— ISLAM WANTS OWN PROVINCE RANGOON, Saturday, November 19, 1949 Another faction has added yet a further discordant demand on a new Burma torn by inner strife. Some 300,000 Muslims are seeking establishment of a new Islamic province, administered by Muslims for Muslims, on the western seaboard of Burma.
U Aung Zan Wei, Minorities Minister in the Thakin Nu
Government, disclosed the demands of the Muslims who form the majority population of Akyab district, northern province of Arakan, where there has been violent upheaval even before Burma’s Independence. Aung Zan Wei told the Associated Press that agitators, racially Arakanese and therefore nationals of Burma, wish to divide Akyab District in two, taking control of the larger area. They are basing their demand on the population ration of 300,000 Muslims to 100,000 Buddhists. Akyab is the most fertile of the three districts comprising the turbulent Arakan. Most of the riceland’s here are in Akyab district where the town of Akyab is the largest and busiest among west coastal ports. Between Arakan and India there are close blood ties. The Arakanese are the descendants of the Bengalese of India who settled on this strip of West Burma centuries ago. Frequent intermarriage continues between the Arakanese and Indians living immediately across the border. Negotiations Aung Zan Wei stated that the Rangoon Government is unwilling to any carving up of Akyab district. He said negotiations between the government and Arakanese representatives continue barren of result. Political observers in Rangoon say that establishment of a virtual Islamic State within Burmese territory is not in this country’s best interests. They say that while secession from Burma presently is not being sought, there is no guarantee that the would-be creators of the Islamic district will not at some future date switch allegiance from the Burmese to the Pakistani flag. They recall that immediately after the British reoccupation of Burma, Muslims along the border district of Buthidaung and Maungdaw pressed for a link-up with what was then was a part of India. by Rick Heizman, January 9, 2019, San Francisco 1